Thursday, October 23, 2014

Simplest Potholder

Here are some instructions to make the easiest and quickest potholder and you can even use up scraps for this project.

Cut pieces as shown in the diagram. (Cut front and back squares 9 inches. Cut batting and two inside squares 8 3/4". Cut 2" x 4" piece for the loop.)

Make 2 quilt sandwiches by assembling 3 layers (one with a front and one with a back square) with batting in the center

Stitch approximately 2" from the edge through all three layers of each quilt sandwich. (note: you can sort of see that the metal plate of the sewing machine is 2 inches from the needle, so I used that as my guide and didn't measure)

Measure out 4 inches x 4 of your trim.

Lay the 4 strips inside the box you've sewn.

You could mark this 4 inch box with a pen or just carefully lift up each piece and using the edge of the glue stick, apply a thin layer to the place where you want to stick the trim.

Repeat the previous step for each side and then stitch your trim down using a straight stitch, being careful to catch in the corners and you might want to back stitch at each corner to secure the trim a little better. (Note: you could sew on a label now.)

Making a Loop

Fold the 2" x 4" piece in half lengthwise and press.

Open and fold in the raw edges to the center and press.

Press closed and stitch as shown

Fold the raw edges of the loop together and overlap and pin to the center of the top of the potholder. (note in this photo you can see that I zigzagged that bottom trim piece. The straight stitch seems to work better)

Place the two quilt sandwiches, right sides together, matching sides together (don't worry about the batting and inside layers, the important part to match is the front and back.) Stitch 1/2" from the edge, LEAVING a 3 inch opening for turning.

Trim the corner fabric and also the inside layers and batting close to the seam and then turn right sides out.

Press the open edges in and stitch closed, either by machine or hand (hand looks nicer).

If you have a label you can add it to the bottom (note: you could stitch the label on before you sew it all together)